Yiannis Papanastasiou was born in Athens in 1973. He studied jazz saxophone and improvisation at Athenaeum conservatory with Sylvios Syrros.

He has been a members of groups such as Buzz Sextet, Apurimac, Oh! My Garden, Daktila tis Ekatis, Jazz Upstairs Orchestra, Lito Vogiatzoglou Quintet and Pocket Band Quintet and has collaborated with Groove Elation Project, Aggeliki Toubanaki & Τhe Buzz Bastardz and many more.

In 2019 he recorded with his quartet his first personal album live at the The Zoo. He has been teaching for many years at Athenaeum conservatory and the Musical Praxis conservatory.